Blu-ray media at the same cost as DVDs

Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has announced in a press release that they’ve managed to reach such an efficient manufacturing process that BD-ROM media will cost the same as today’s DVD-ROM media. This is a huge success for BDA that so far has had problems with high productioncosts for BD-ROM media hanging over their heads. Where HD DVD always has had the big upside of a cheap manufacturing process. BDA says by its work with several partners they’ve been able to find a more efficient effektivare manufacturing process thus been able to puch the price of the discs much lower. Sony has also developed new equipment for making BD-ROM media.

“Sony has developed equipment to streamline the disc mastering process by reducing the eleven steps currently used in DVD mastering to five for BD-ROM. This mastering process, Phase Transition Mastering (PTM), requires as little as one-fifth of the space required for DVD mastering and the equipment can be configured to allow mastering of both BD-ROM and DVD-ROM on a single system. The first two commercial machines are for Technicolor and Cinram for Q2, 2005 installation.”

In USA they are preparing to massproduce BD-ROM media, a production that should start during July 2005. To begin with it’s 25GB and 50GB media but succesful tests have been done with 200GB media, which could be launched if there’s a need for it. We have a hard time to think that Blu-ray based media will be launched at teh same as DVD media is sold at today but at the same time they’ve eliminated one of the biggest upsides with HD DVD by lowering production costs, something that adds up to that we will most likely not see just one format the next generation.

Source: Blu-ray Disc Association